Salmon trout. (Photo: Stock File)

Mitsui plans to farm salmon trout on land in Japan

Trading house Mitsui & Co. is embarking on a venture that could eventually result in salmon trout being farmed across Asia in land-based tanks to meet soaring demand for the fish from lovers of sushi.

The project has important ramifications as cultivating the fish species in warm waters in Asia has proven very difficult, and Japan has had to rely on imports from faraway countries.

Mitsui expects to acquire an 80-per cent stake in a start-up company that has pioneered a seawater filtering system for fish farming.

The venture will cost Mitsui YEN 900 million (USD 8.03 million). Salmon cultivation operations are due to start in Chiba Prefecture next spring.

Mitsui anticipates that locally produced farmed salmon will be available for sale as early as 2019 and that 1,500 tons of the fish will be shipped in 2020.

Salmon trout is typically imported from cold regions. Chile and Norway account for 80 per cent of all farmed salmon sold in Japan.

Operations require that water temperatures are maintained at around 15 degrees year-round. As seawater temperatures rise during summer in Japan, salmon farming has proven difficult.

Demand for salmon trout keeps rising, and fish farmers are struggling to keep up with demand.

Mitsui’s cultivated facility will use a closed water circulation system in land-based tanks. The water filter system negates the need to replace the water. It will also use artificially processed seawater and dissolve toxins in the water with the help of bacteria.

Mitsui is planning to sell raw, unfrozen salmon.

“We want to provide safe and delicious raw salmon at prices as cheap as those from overseas,” said a Mitsui official.

The company has plans to establish more salmon farming facilities in warmer regions of Asia in the future.

Source: The Asahi Shimbun

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